Land of Mists

The Land of Mists

First Appearance

Latest/Last Appearance

The Land of Mists, also known as "The Valley of Mists", is a vast marshland located some distance away from the Great Valley. It is the land in which Ali's herd used to live. It was turned into a marsh by heavy rainfall, and the life which began to appear there afterwards made it uninhabitable for the herd. To date, the land has only been seen in The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists, in which Littlefoot and the others must venture there in order to find the Night Flower, a flower that will act as a medicine for his sick grandfather.

Contents

Description

As the Old One, the matriarch of the longneck herd, states in The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists, the Land of Mists used to be a Utopian valley similar to the Great Valley, until rain suddenly began falling in heavy quantities for thirty weeks; about seven and a half months. This caused the valley to turn into a soggy marshland, in which strange creatures which had never lived there before began to make their homes, and consume the food which the longneck herd had lived off of. As many of these newcoming creatures proved to be predatorial, they were eventually forced to leave and spend their lives as a nomadic herd; migrating from one place to another. It was at this time that, due to the heavy moisture that remained in the air, and the fog which resulted from it, the valley began to be referred to as "The Land of Mists".

History

To date, it's only appearance has been in the fourth film. When Littlefoot's grandfather becomes ill in the fourth film, the Old One tells Littlefoot and his grandmother that the only thing which will cure him of his illness is to eat the Nightflower, a flower with golden petals, which only grows in the Land of Mists. When the other longnecks refuse to return there to extract some of the flowers, and the Old One says that even to save Grandpa Longneck, it would be too dangerous, Littlefoot and Ali venture to the valley themselves, and when Littlefoot is trapped, Ali races back to get Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike for help. While the others decide to trust Ali, Cera is more hesitant, but eventually comes with them.

Populations

In a cave near the Valley of Mists, through which the children arrived at their destination, live the two villains of the film; an Ichthyornis named Ichy, and a Deinosuchus named Dil. Also living in the cave is an elderly Archelon named Archie, who helps the children to escape Ichy and Dil the first time, and shows them an exit out of the cave, leading to the Land of Mists. In the valley itself, live various creatures, some of which may or may not have lived there before the heavy rainfall which transformed the land. Among them are a herd of Struthiomimus and a herd of Pachycephalosaurus, and a family of Megazostrodons. One of them, whom Ducky names Tickles because of his "tickly fuzzies", or fur, helps the gang to find Cera when she gets lost in the fog, and also helps them when they are attacked by Ichy and Dil for the last time and they are seperated and defeated when Dil hits Ichy with her tail and she is chased by the Swimming Sharptooth. He remains in the Land of Mists, while the gang return to the Great Valley.

Reception

In his review on The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists, Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database reviewer Steve Rhodes was critical of the formulaic plot in which the Nightflower, whose healing properties are the only thing which will cure Grandpa Longneck, can only be found in the Land of Mists; the "feared place" of the movie. In the meantime, he described the mountain view of the Land of Mists, in the scene after the children say their goodbyes to Archie, as "pretty", and called it the only part of the film other than Ducky's catchphrase "Yep yep yep!", which could compel viewers to watch the film.[1] Rod Gustafson, on Parent Previews.com, seemed to agree that the plotline was too obvious.[2] Michael Scheinfeld, a reviewer on Disney Family.com, wrote a review on the films in the Land Before Time series, in which he briefly describes the backgrounds in the Land of Mists, and the areas surrounding it, as "sparse".[3]

Trivia

The Land of Mists may be near the sea. If so it would explain several things like the sudden climate change, the mist, and Archie, Ichy and the Swimming Sharptooth, who are all creatures that would live in or near the sea.